Washington, George
Washington, George Born Feb. 22, 1732, near Bridges Creek, Virginia; died Dec. 14, 1799, in Mount Vernon. Americanstatesman, commander in chief of the American Army during the War of Independence in NorthAmerica (1775-83), and first president of the USA (1789-97). Washington was born into the family of a rich planter and slave owner. At the age of 15 he finishedhis education, and at the age of 16 he began to work as a surveyor. In 1751 he inherited the largeestate of Mount Vernon and became a shareholder in the Ohio Company, which speculated in landsseized from the Indians. At the same time, Washington received the rank of major and wasappointed the commander of one of the four districts of the Virginia militia. In 1755 he took part inthe unsuccessful expedition to the French fort of Duquesne. At the beginning of the Seven Years’War (1756-63), Washington, now a colonel, commanded the troops of Virginia. In 1759 he resigned.As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and judge of Fairfax County, Washington activelyprotested against the British government’s policy of limiting trade and industry in the colonies. In 1774, Washington was elected to the First Continental Congress and in 1775 to the SecondContinental Congress. At the very beginning of the war for independence of the English colonies inNorth America (a bourgeois revolution), the congress chose Washington as commander in chief ofthe rebel armed forces (June 15, 1775). In this position Washington displayed high moral qualities,courage, determination, and talent as a military leader and organizer. The congress repeatedly gaveWashington broad and even dictatorial powers. Washington enjoyed popularity among the popularmasses whose struggle made possible the triumph of the revolution. At the end of the war a groupof reactionary officers organized a monarchical conspiracy and offered Washington the crown. Herejected this proposition. After the end of the war Washington retired to his estate. In the years1786-87, Washington headed the reactionary forces which crushed the democratic movement ofpoor farmers and artisans under the leadership of D. Shays (Shays’ Rebellion). In 1787, underWashington’s chairmanship, the Constitution of the USA was drafted. With certain changes thisconstitution is still in effect today. In 1789, Washington was elected the first president of the USA(reelected in 1792). Carrying out a conservative policy, Washington opposed the democraticdemands of the popular masses, consolidating only those achievements of the revolution whichwere necessary to the bourgeoisie and the planters. Although he included both Federalists and theiropponent T. Jefferson in his cabinet, Washington nevertheless supported and in fact headed theFederalists with their centralizing and anglophile tendencies. Washington was one of the founders ofthe two-party system of the USA. He welcomed the beginning of the Great French Revolution, butits subsequent development frightened him. After the outbreak of war between revolutionary Franceand the European coalition in 1793, Washington refused to fulfill the obligations which the USA hadas an ally, according to the French Alliance of 1778. Later, Washington favored American refusal toparticipate in alliances of and wars between the European states. Washington supported theinequitable treaty with Great Britain (the so-called Jay’s Treaty) concluded in 1794 which causedmuch indignation in the USA and undermined Washington’s popularity. Washington spent the lastyears of his life in Mount Vernon. He was a proponent of the gradual abolition of slavery, and in hiswill he freed all slaves belonging to him personally. Washington has gone down in history as a progressive figure, since he occupied a consistentposition on the most important issue of the American bourgeois revolution of the 18th century—thestruggle for independence of the colonies. At the same time, he remained a representative of theinterests of the propertied classes, and in this lies Washington’s limitation: he was a bourgeoisrevolutionary. WORKS The Writings, vols. 1-14. New York, 1889-93. The Diaries, 1748-1799, vols. 1-4. New York 1925. REFERENCES Lenin, V. I. “Pis’mo k amerikanskim rabochim.” Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 37. Ocherki novoi i noveishei istorii SShA, vol. 1. Moscow, 1960. (Contains a bibliography.) Efimov, A. V. SShA: Puti razvitiia kapitalizma. Moscow, 1969. Fursenko, A. A. Amerikanskaia burzhuaznaia revoliutsiia XVIII v. Moscow-Leningrad, 1960. Iuzefovich, I. S. Dzhordzh Vashington i bor’ba za nezavisimost’ Ameriki. Moscow, 1941. (Containsa bibliography.) Hughes, R. George Washington, vols. 1-3. New York, 1926-30. (Contains a bibliography.) A. V. EFIMOV